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Sex, lies and cyberpower

By Celeste Biever

WHEN the internet company ICM Registry proposed the creation of a virtual red light district in 2000, fenced in by a .xxx web address suffix or “top level domain” (TLD), it was hoping to create revenue by providing a new business opening for pornographers.

The company, based in Jupiter, Florida, plans to make money leasing out domain names such as www.toys.xxx at a rate of &dollar;60 a year, in return for operating the databases that connect internet users to the servers hosting porn. The idea is that the .xxx domain will make it easier for users and search engines to identify porn sites. …